Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, said China's mobile phone subscribers will grow 11 per cent to 500 million in 2007, given strong demand from rural markets and second-time buyers.

China will add another 160 million mobile users by 2010, according to the company. Meanwhile, second-time buyers will account for 80 per cent of total subscribers, compared with the current 60 per cent.

"This means two different kinds of markets growing simultaneously: One is volume and the other is value," said Colin Giles, the company's senior vice-president for customer and market operations in China.

Nokia and its rival Motorola have tried to enhance their market share by introducing low-end models catering to the nation's 800 million rural residents. Nokia said that the strategy has worked well, citing its strong performance over the past nine months.

The company had a 35 per cent share of the Chinese market at the end of the third quarter, according to GFK Group, a market information consultancy.

During the same period, the company raked in 3.95 billion euros (US$5.14 billion) in sales from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, up 45 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, its unit sales rose 58 per cent to 36.6 million in the first nine months of this year.

Despite the strong sales growth, analysts say the trend of shifting to low-end products may affect mobile phone makers' profit margins, as the prices of entry-level products tend to be low. But the Finnish mobile phone maker has shrugged off these concerns, saying the nation's second-time buyers will account for a bigger part for its sales in the coming years.

Source:佚名